Revolving hearth for a combustion chamber



Aug. 9, 1960 c. TOEPEL REVOLVING HEARTH FOR A COMBUSTION CHAMBER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 17, 1958 FIG INVENTOR. FLORIAN C. TOEPEL FIG 1960 F. c. TOEPEL 2948,23?

REVOLVING HEARTH FOR A COMBUSTION CHAMBER Filed Feb. 17, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.. 6

INVEN TOR.

FIG 2 FLORIAN c. TOEPEL 9, 1960 F. c. TOEPEL 2,948,237

REVOLVING HEARTH FOR A COMBUSTION CHAMBER Filed Feb. 17, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

/2 FLORIAN C. TOEPEL BY United States Patent REVOLVING IEARTH FOR A COMBUSTION CHAMBER This present invention relates to the general art of force draft incinerators of the type used to dry and burn garbage and other refuse. More particularly this present invention relates to a revolving hearth having openings therein, for large size incinerators in which landing platforms are secured below the various openings in the hearth so that they will become filled with debris such as cans and bottles and the like which can then be raked out of the landing into .suitable cars so that this unburnable material can constantly be removed from the incinerator.

Theamount of waste materials that collects in home, and business operations of all kinds has reached such proportions that the disposal of this material has become a very perplexing problem. The very bulk of the material makes its transportation forany appreciable distance a very difficult one and then the burning or disposal of it poses a very definite problem in-any populated community. Normally the waste material is a mixture of wet material and dry materials all of which can be burned under proper conditions. There are some items, however, that are included particularly in garbage and the like which are not burnable and chief among these are tin cans and glass bottles. Many forms of incinerators have been provided employing froce draft and various other means in an endeavor toburn the waste materials in an incinerator so arranged as to use the heat from the burning dry materials to drive off the moisture from the wet so that these wet materials when dried or partially dried can be burnt; As it is most desirable to limit the distance that waste materials are transported, means are provided so that the waste materials can be burnt, close to their source, with a minimum or no smoke. This operation requires a carefully designed incinerator arrangement; of

2,754,779. As the amount of waste material that an incinerator must handle a day reaches almost staggering proportions, it is essential that the same be operated continuously. Continuous operation in the past has been very difficult because of the unburnable materials that can not be economically sorted out from the waste and these materials principally tin cans and bottles collect in the bottom of the incinerator and normally it is necessary to allow the incinerator to cool so that these can be periodically removed. However, in asmuch as the incinerators themselves generate a great deal of heat and must be thick walled to resist the same, it means the closing down of the incinerating operation for considerable periods for the cleaning operation. In this present invention a revolvable hearth is provided and the openings in the hearth, which are walled for considerable depth, tend to collect the unburnable materials and means have been provided so that these materials can be removed from the lower-most portion ofthe various openings in the hearth. In this way, a continuous operation of the incinerator is possible. I

Theprincipal object of this present invention,.therefore, is to provide means for removing unburnable ma- 2348,23? Patented Aug. 9, 1960 2 terials from the incinerators which can be achieved without interfering in any way with the incinerating operations.

A further object of this invention is to provide a revolvable hearth for incinerators in order to expedite the removal of unburnables from the incinerator.

A further object of this invention is to provide a relatively thick hearth arrangement having a plurality of through openings and to further provide underneath the various openings, a landing platform on which unburnables will be collected and from which they can be removed.

A further object of this invention is to provide a resting means spaced from and'under the openings in an incinerator hearthso that the lowermost portion of the debris collected as unburnables will be cooled by seconda-rycombustion air to a reasonable degree and permit its removal from the arresting means and to thus effect the removal of unburnables from an incinerator without interfering with its continuity of operation.

Further objects, advantages andcapabilities will be apparent from the description and disclosure in the drawings' or may be comprehended or are inherent in the device.

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through a preferred form of incinerator such as is used for quantity waste disposal and illustrating my revolvable hearth and its association with the various elements of the incinerator. Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view, taken in the same general sense as Figure 1, but illustrating the manner in which the unburnables at the lowerlever, of the collected mass, may be removed from a revolvable hearth for transportation away from the incinerator.

Figure 3 is a partial horizontal sectional view through a preferred form of incinerator substantially along the line 3-3 of Figure 1; and showing a top view of the revolvable hearth with part of the same broken away and sectioned to more adequately illustrate the steel frame reinforcing structure of the hearth.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical sectional view illustrating one of the resting platforms disposed under an opening in the hearth.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective View, partly in section, further illustrating the structure of Figure 4.

'Figure 6 is a horizontal sectional view along the line 66 of Figure 1.

In the drawings:

The reference numeral 10 designates the main supporting and shield wall of a typical high capacity incinerator, which is supported by a foundation wall 11 which terminates in the below frost line footing 12. Disposed within shell 10 is preferably a heat dome 14 having a somewhat restricted opening 16 in order to better build up the temperatures created within the combustion chambers and form a primary combustion chamber to the end that wet materials will be quickly dried and more readily combustible. Incinerators of this general order are usually provided with an elevated landing or ramp 18 having a charging chute 20 which discharges materials directly into the combustion chamber proper 22. Depending somewhat upon the operational conditions and the size of the incinerator, more than one charging chute may be provided.

A double wedge shaped deflector 21 is disposed adjacent the charging chute so that the materials discharged will be pressed inwardly away from the walls as the hearth revolves.

The incinerator normally draws heated air from ports 23 through suction pipe 24 by a suitable power driven fan as 26, which in turn discharges the heated air out through normally tangentially disposed outlets 28. More providing a revolvable hearth or grate arrangement 30. The hearth consists essentially of a structural steel framework indicated generally at 32 which provides the structural strength of the hearth and makes it possible to securely mount the preferably slightly "conical, outer hearing wheels or rollers 34 and the peripheral rollers as as and the inner wheels 37. Wheels 34 roll on a slightly conical surface 38. The extension of the line of contact intersects an axial line passing through the axles upon which rollers 34 revolve and the intersection of the two lines is at the axis of revolution of the hearth as 40.

Owing to the intense heat generated in the incineration of waste materials under force draft, as is provided in the preferred form of these incinerators, it has been found desirable to form a very heavy coating of refractory cementitious material over all the structural steel frame members. Further it is desirable to form out of this refractory material, adequate guiding means as the sloping surfaces 42, 43, 4-4 and the like.

The advantage of a revolving hearth provides a time element for drying of -wet garbage between the point of charging on one side and the point of maximum burning at approximately the opposite side of the combustion chamber. The driving force from the air supply duct on the opposite side not only increases the combustion but drives the heat against the oncoming wet garbage which has been deposited and therefore passes through a period of drying before reaching, the point of combustion. The speed of the revolving hearth may be varied according tothe moisture in the garbage. The action of the hearth is counter to the direction of the air flow from the ducts so that the heat and flames from the point of combustion will penetrate and pass over the raw garbage to dissipate the gases which have been generated.

This hearth arrangement made substantially after proportions shown throughout the accompanying drawings, will provide the deep openings passing through the hearth and, as will be particularly noted in Figure 2, will provide the passageways with sloping walls at an appreciable heighth. These concentrically disposed openings as 45 and 46 have disposed beneath them and spaced somewhat below the structural framework 32, arresting platforms of somewhat greater extent than the openings 45 and 46 to the end that unburnables such as bottles, .tin cans and the like will be arrested by the platforms indicated at 56. These platforms are supported from framework 32 on a minimum number of small size suspension rods 51 in order to prevent unnecessary hindrance to the clean out operation. As will be noted in Figure 2 the lowermost portion of any materials resting upon platforms 50 will be disposed at an appreciable distance below the heat zone. These items will be cooling because of the draft of air tending to pass upwardly through the various openings 4S and 46, as a result of the draft caused by the hot gases being discharged out through opening 16 and from the top of the chimney like outer shell 10.

Disposed below platforms 50 may be any suitable form of conveyance as the car 52 to the end that the debris or unburnables can be caught and transported away from the incinerator. Suitable deflectors as 54 are provided to insure the unburnables will be directed into car 52.

In order to give relatively long life to this unit, adequate support means as wheels 34 and additional centrally disposed whee 3 3'7 are provided to the end that even though the structural steel becomes heated through continued use, it will be adequately supported so the hearth be easily revolved. To further insure the continuity of this operation a labyrinth type of seal is provided at at in part by the downwardly extending plate 62 which extends around the inside surface of the heat dome 14 and suitable steps or grooves 63. A preferred material for plate 62 is cast iron as it has a high degree of resistance to the extreme temperatures that are present in this arrangement,

Periodic clean-outs are necessary in the working of this general plan and this is normally achieved by the use of a hoe or rake-like implement 66 which is operated through an access on the level of the platforms as the clean-out port 68. In order to avoid unnecessary cutting the masonry of the incinerator, it is preferred to employ only one such clean-out port although it will follow that on large units, where more than one man may be reouired to clean out the unburnable materials, additional ports could be provided. I

One convenient arrangement for revolving the hearth at the will of the individual, who is charged with the removal of material from the various arresting platforms 50, may be provided by fixedly securing an endless run of transmission chain around the hearth as is indicated at 70. The chain, so arranged, appears to be the form of drive least apt to be distorted by the heat generated in the incinerator. In this present use the chain does not function as a chain in a chain drive but, in effect, serves as a large spur gear. Adapted to mesh with and operatively drive chain 76 fixedly secured to the hearth is a sprocket 72 which in turn is driven through a suitable reduction gearing 74 having variable speeds to permit selection of an optimum rotating speed of hearth to suit materials being burned. An average speed is approximately one revolution every twenty minutes, by electric motor as 76.

The clean-out operation which is shown best in Figure 2 and indicated in Figures 1 and 3 is normally limited to the removal of the lower levels of the unburnable materials. These materials have been partially cooled by the inflowing cold air induced by the draft of the incinerator and also because of the very appreciable depth of the walled openings above each of the platforms. In this way the heat zone is raised well above the structural steel members. The clean-out personnel normally pushes out or rakes out the lowermost material resting in close contact with platforms 5t} and this operation is continued until material that is hot or embers from the fire above begin to trickle through. When this stage is reached the unloading of the instant platform is stopped and the cleanout operation transferred to another platform which is similarly partially unloaded.

It is believed that it will be clearly apparent from the above description and the disclosure in the drawings that the invention comprehends a novel construction of revolving hearth for a combustion chamber.

Having thus disclosed the invention, I claim:

1. In a garbage disposal unit having a primary combustion chamber which has a dome-shaped top with a large discharge opening centered in said top and has means therein for burning refuse under forced air and at high temperatures and a shield wall which tapers, as it extends upwards, disposed concentrically around said primary combustion chamber, the improvement, comprising:

' a suporting foundation wall for said disposal unit formed as a continuation of said shield wall; a charging chute which discharges materials directly into the primary combustion chamber; a tangentially disposed duct in communication with said combustion chamber, for supplying, under pressure, the bulk of the air needed to support combustion; a revolvable hearth forming the floor of said primary combustion chamber and having openings therein through which unburnables may pass downward; platforms disposed below said openings and supported from said hearth to travel with it at all times; said platforms spaced from said hearth just sufficiently to allow unburnables to pass through the said openings in small quantities together with ash but to form a base preventing the fire from passing downwardly; the foundation wall having an opening therein, on the same general horizontal plane as the platforms, to facilitate selectively raking the unburnables off of the platforms as the hearth is revolving; means for moving the unburnables out from under said hearth; and variable speed drive means for revolving said hearth.

2. In a garbage disposal unit having a primary combustion chamber which has an enclosing top with a large discharge centered in said top and has means therein for burning refuse under forced air and at high temperatures and a shield wall which extends upwards disposed concentrically around said primary combustion chamber, the improvement, comprising: a foundation wall for said shield wall a charging chute which discharges materials directly into the primary combustion chamber; tangentially disposed ducts in communictaion with said com bustion chamber, for supplying, under pressure, the bulk of the air needed to support combustion; a revolvable hearth forming the,flo0r of said primary combustion chamber and having openings therein through which unburnables may pass downward and secondary combustion air pass upwardly; said openings having downwardly converging, sloping walls formed of refractory materials supported by a metal framework; a deflector adjacent the charging chute and disposed to press materials just deposited on said floor, inwardly toward the center of the hearth as it revolves; platforms disposed below said openings and supported from said hearth to travel with it at all times; said platforms spaced from'said hearth just sufliciently to allow unburnables to pass through the said openings in small quantities together with ash but to 6 form a base preventing the combustion chamber fire from passing downwardly; the foundation wall having an access opening therein on the same general horizontal plane of the platforms to facilitate selectively raking the unburnables off of the platforms as the hearth is revolving; means for moving the unburnables out from under said hearth; and drive means for revolving said hearth.

3. The subject matter of claim 2 in which said revolvable hearth is provided with a structural steel frame work; metal bearing wheels, having axles supported from said frame work disposed to follow circular paths concentric to the axis of revolution of said hearth and to support the weight of said hearth; peripheral rollers supported from said frame work and disposed to engage a wall track concentric to the said axis of revolution of said hearth.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 524,688 Ransome Aug. 14, 1894 1,548,292 Wedge Aug. 4, 1925 1,582,952 Wedge May 4, 1926 2,171,538 Black et a1. Sept. 5, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,506 Great Britain-.. Ian. 22, 1895 

